This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Xanrym had all of his gear during his watch, but he had just laid that aside so that he could be more comfortable during breakfast. When he hears the crowd gathering, it takes him a minute to slip his armor back on head downstairs. He tells Llydrk and Maajid to keep their captives quiet and to keep an eye on Oliver and Toska, too.
"Self defence? What have you done!? You've killed them all haven't you barbarian!?" Sir Grover is yelling at you, but it seems he's yelling more for the crowd at the door than out of anger. The people outside are looking at each other and mumbling, looking at you all in fear.
"Be careful now. Explain yourselves in detail. Leave nothing out, and remain calm." Zakarias looks at you cooly. You can see in his eyes that he wants to remain objective, but the implication that you were involved in violence against the local constables and priest is a very serious matter. And it seems Sir Grover has already made up his mind, so you'll need to think about what to say next.
Xanrym comes down the stairs just in time to overhear Sir Grover's accusation and Avery's response and thinks, "That escalated quickly." He takes in the scene and the villagers outside the inn, wondering how many are members of the cult. A handful of cult members who don't want to reveal their affiliation openly is a very different situation from a mob that's more than half cultists.
Avery turns back and stares directly at Sir Grover. "You sir, have violated your oath of chivalry, and position as constable. I call you oath breaker, and I will make sure your order is well aware of this violation! That is the truth of it. There is a dark cult here, and Sir Grover is either directly involved, or complicit in allowing it to happen."
Xanrym steps up to Avery and interjects to try to cool down the situation (Persuasion12) while they can figure out who's who: "Sir Grover, good morning! I'm Xanrym. We met yesterday when Avery stopped by your office." He places a placating hand on Avery's broad shoulder and says, "Now, Avery, don't be too hasty! We don't know what Sir Grover knows or knew about his constables." But now he fixes his eyes on Zakarias and says, "My apologies! I was late coming down and missed the introductions. Would you perchance be Mayor Ormond? We'd be happy to give a full account and explain the unfortunate incident last night. Perhaps we could all take a seat here? There's already been some unpleasantness, and we don't want to upset the other villagers. Once they see that everything is calm here and there's no 'show', they'll go about their day. There's no need for your sword Sir Grover. Where are we going to go? You already block the door there," he says, pointing toward the front door of the inn, "and it's not like there's some secretdoor out of the inn!" He finishes with a laugh as though the idea of an inn with a secret door is ridiculous.
Xanrym continues to watch Zararias even when he's talking to Sir Grover, but he hopes that his friends were watching the whole group when he said that to see whether anyone betrayed a sign that they know about the secret meeting room under the inn.
Xanrym waits a moment to see how Ormond reacts. If Ormond seems receptive and/or moves to sit down at one of the tables, then Xanrym will step in front of Avery to pick up one of the upturned chairs. As he bends down to the chair, he glances back at his three friends and gives them a look of focused concern, like a gambler about to sit down with a table of cheats. If the mood is still tense or hostile, Xanrym remains standing next to Avery.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Theldrin is content to keep quiet in the background for the moment, as he watches the situation develop. When he hears Xanrym say "secret door" he scans the group to see if he notes any reaction.
Well technically there is no secret door into or out of the inn. There's the front door and the door they load the barrels into the basement from. When Xanrym mentions it though, Sir Grover glances at the door leading to Bertram's room, the one with the trapdoor leading to the cult meeting place.
Sir Grover starts to take a step towards you with his sword but Mayor Ormond firmly tells him to stand down, and Grover looks at him to the giant man behind him and takes a step back. Ormond goes on, "Is there anyone upstairs that can corroborate anything that you've said? Also, have you taken any prisoners? Explain to me exactly who died last night, and hand over anyone who you may have captured. Then we can sit down and talk this out, not before. If they've committed a crime, they will be punished." He looks at Sir Grover. "As for your accusations against our sheriff, they are weighty indeed. Although it seems you have little to prove those claims, and it could be a misunderstanding. I will reserve any discussion about that until after you have handed over any prisoners or bystanders."
It seems like he is looking for a compromise; a sign that you aren't just barbaric killers and that there are other people left alive in this inn.
Xanrym says, "Of course! Liarin, could you fetch Maajid and Toska? We should probably start with them and how it all started."
While they wait, Xanrym begins his story. He tells the story with his expressive voice as though he's telling a tale to entertain a crowd. He explains how he woke up in the middle of the night to find that Avery was not in his bed in their shared room. How he and Theldrin found that an enchantment lay upon the hallway, preventing all sound. They were able to find Liarin and wake her up.
Xanrym then explains how he and his friends were paid by Maajid to escort him to Orlane after the man was attacked near an inn several miles up the road. He hopes that by this point Liarin has brought Maajid downstairs. Xanrym asks Maajid to tell the men what he saw when he woke up in the middle of the night.
Once Maajid tells them that he saw when he woke up, Xanrym jumps right back into his story. How the eerie silence worried them. So they went to check on their charge, Maajid, in his room -- only to arrive just in time! Cultists with scimitars intent on killing or capturing those sleeping at the inn!
Xanrym says that it wasn't just their group. He says that they found Toska tied to her bed. He asks the priestess to explain what she experienced in the middle of the night.
Well technically there is no secret door into or out of the inn.
(OOC: yes, technically true. Xanrym just wanted a way to casually mention a "secret door" to see whether anyone would react. He figured a cultist might think of the secret door to the meeting room since going into the tunnel was kind of like leaving the inn.)
To be clear about Xanrym 's story, he's trying to get the mayor caught up in the story and delay the details about Misha and Bertram and the constables as long as possible. If the mayor is not a cult member, maybe he will be interested in this story and believe it could be related to the recent troubles in Orlane. Once he's "on their side" in a way, they can reveal that Misha led the attack on Maajid and that Bertram, Dogroot, and the constables are involved in the cult.
The two ways this could go wrong are if the mayor is a member of the cult or if the mayor is simply inclined to trust Orlaners over an outsider. In the former case, Xanrym is just stalling. In the latter case, If Xanrym can paint the party as heroes and get the mayor thinking that they have discovered the source of the recent troubles, he may not be so quick to believe whatever lies the captives tell. The party can always show him the secret hallways to the guest rooms, the secret meeting room, and the hidden tunnels. They just need to establish enough credibility first before the talk about who they killed. 😇
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
I'd say this will be a Persuasion check with Advantage because Maajid and Toska will both back up the story that you're telling. I'll roll here for you:
So Mayor Ormond listens to your story with interest. He is certainly willing to believe that you were attacked in the night. When Sir Grover points out that Maajid is basically one of your party, Mayor Ormond rebuts with the fact that Toska is has no reason to lie, and many people attest to the fact that she arrived a couple days earlier, and had not been seen with you before last night. Sir Grover responds, "But perhaps they are all in it together, and sending the cleric in a couple days earlier lends credence to their lies." The Mayor hears this, but says it's pretty far fetched.
However, Mayor Ormond senses that you are holding something back. "Now you must tell us, who attacked you last night, and were there any hostages? It seems the constables were involved, but who else? I warn you, if you lie or try to keep the full truth from us on this matter, it will not help your cause."
Avery continues, his face firmly set. "When I arrived at the constable's office, one of his men stated, "A message from Sir Grover. 'You will serve her as well as you have done the Darkwatch." before he struck me with a mace. I had gone to see him in good faith and armed only with a dagger for my own protection, though little good against an ambush and with those armed with maces. I did stand my ground and did attempt to defend myself until both of them attacked, and I was knocked out. It was only after they brought me here to the inn, that I regained consciousness, and saw my friends being engaged. Using only my hands, I helped my friends against thugs, and others from this town bent on seeing them harmed. All about this "lady or her." I found it unique that the only weapons I could secure at the moment, were poisoned daggers, not a normal weapon for a peaceful person wouldn't you say?"
While Avery responds to / threatens Sir Grover, Xanrym tries to shift back behind the fighter and cast minor illusion without anyone noticing. (Stealth17, in game log). He creates an illusion of the naga statue that they saw in the tunnels. (OOC: I'm not sure how we're all situated, but if the party is near the bar, and the mayor and Sir Grover are in the middle of the room, then he'd place the illusion in the west end of the room, in an open spot maybe 5 ft. behind the three men. If that's now how they're arranged, he'll place the illusion off at the north end of the room where they hopefully won't notice it right away.)
Xanrym tries to play a little "bad-cop, good-cop" with Avery. He steps forward again and jumps into the conversation as soon as Avery finishes speaking. Again, he addresses the mayor directly, "Yes, Mayor Ormond, thank you for your patience! I'm just getting to that. You must know that a darkness has descended on Orlane. Even we -- newcomers -- have already heard rumors of strange disappearances in you village. People vanishing for days and then coming back different, somehow changed. When we found Maajid last night, surrounded in his room by rough men with scimitars, I first thought that they were simple bandits, robbing a merchant in an inn along the road."
He continues, "But the truth is far worse. After last night, we have found the source of the trouble plaguing Orlane. A dark cult. A cult that worships...", and here, Xanrym gestures dramatically to his illusion behind them, "Explictica Defilus! I do not know who brought this cult to your town, but her name is certainly known to some in Orlane. And some of your townspeople may be under her arcane spells, unwittingly doing her bidding. The constables were among her followers. As Avery told you, they said, 'you will serve her.' Any that resist the cult are killed. We can show you clear evidence of this cult if you need to see it with your own eyes."
If he's allowed to continue, Xanrym now becomes contrite and adopts a less dramatic and more sorrowful tone. He says, "I'm sorry to say that the priestess of the Temple of Merikka here in Orlane, Misha?, revealed herself to be one of the cult's leaders last night. She was was directing the men who attacked Maajid. When we tried to chase them off, they came at us in force. We were outnumbered, but we managed to defend ourselves and put a stop to their murder and robbery. Five? -- no -- six men were killed in that fight. We would have liked to capture Misha, but unfortunately she was killed in the fight too. Her dying words to us were: 'You will die, and your corpses will serve as a meal for her and her children.' We have manage to capture a few men who were clearly serving the cult, but I don't expect that they will be truthful about what happened here last night."
(OOC: I'll leave it there for now. Xanrym would like to see how Mayor Ormond reacts to these revelations, but I'd be surprised if Xanrym even makes it all the way to the end of that monologue without being interrupted by Sir Grover. 🙂)
Updated: if needed, I went ahead and made another persuasion roll: 21, in game log.
Theldrin is tempted to interject with his views on the matter but thinks better of it, as Avery and Xanrym seem to be doing a good job, at least as best as can be expected considering the circumstances. He stays quiet and keeps an eye on the tall man with the axe, trying to gauge how he's reacting to the evolving situation.
Theldrin - The tall man with the axe is watching the Mayor's back. It seems he's not overly interested in the intrigue, mainly focussed on his one job: Protect Zakarias Ormond.
Sir Grover is flummoxed by your account. He tries to get a word in, but the strength of Avery and the illusion of the Naga throw him off completely. He's looking around with wild eyes. Mayor Ormond seems interested in your story, and when Grover tries to butt in, Mayor Ormond stops him. "Grover, i understand you trusted Donovan and Hulbar. But you must admit, this story adds up. What reason would these people have to lie?"
Sir Grover flat out lies when Avery implicates him. "I gave this man no message. I had some dealings with these people earlier in the day and that was that." Mayor Ormond seems inclined to believe that the constables were acting alone
When you reveal Misha as one of the people who died, the crowd gasps, and Mayor Ormond puts his head in his hands. "This is grim news, Misha was loved by many of the village folk. They will not quickly believe she was the leader of some kind of cult." He seems to be thinking more that it will be hard for him to convince others, rather than not believing it himself. Sir Grover, however, jumps on the chance to make you look bad. "Did you hear that? They've killed that poor girl Misha! That lovely priest who came to our town and was our light, they've butchered her!" People start grumbling between themselves and are not happy with this news. The general attitude towards you is tempered at the moment, no one is calling for your blood, but you haven't been absolved completely.
When you show them the illusion of the Naga, and talk about a cult dedicated to 'her', the Mayor looks at you with hope. "If you show us proof of this cult, and hand over your prisoners, I think we can call this investigation over for the moment. Wouldn't you agree Sir Grover?" Grover reluctantly nods his head, seeing that you've successfully convinced the Mayor and the people of Orlane that you are not evil murderers.
Avery looks at the mayor, "Evidence, then here sir, here is evidence." He reaches into his cloak and pulls out the letter where Sir Grover had scribbled to come back that evening. Not wanting to appear threatening, he holds it out before the mayor.
"This is the note that I was brining to Sir Grover from a fellow comrade-in arms that had served with him. He returned it to me with the note to return that evening on the back."
Xanrym waits a moment to see whether Sir Grover responds to this evidence that contradicts his testimony.
After that, Xanrym was going to propose showing the mayor the secret meeting room downstairs and the barred door to the ghouls' tunnel. If given a chance, he'll propose, "Avery, would you like to stay here, where Sir Grover can keep an eye on you, while I show the mayor and his guard what we found in the cellar?" Xanrym's idea would be that two of them stay here with Sir Grover and two of them go back to the cellar. He's pretty sure that Sir Grover is in the cult. (He's not sure about the other two.) Xanrym doesn't want to leave anyone alone with Sir Grover, but he worries that there may be something in the cellar or the secret meeting room or in the tunnels that Sir Grover could use against them if they took him downstairs.
Mayor Ormond reads the note, then frowns at Sir Grover. "What is this Grover? How do you respond?" At the harshness in his voice, the man behind him puts a hand on his axe. Turning to Sir Grover.
Sir Grover starts to say something, but then looking to the Mayor, to the axe man, to the rest of you, he hangs his head. When his face comes up, he has a wicked smile on his face. "She will devour this village, and all of you with it. She is the All Darkness. Kill me if you must, it will help you none." His voice has changed now, to the tone of the people you've got prisoner upstairs.
Mayor Ormond's eyes widen. "Wraven, arrest Sir Grover, and take him to constable's quarters, along with the rest of the prisoners here. It seems these people have uncovered a secret we've been looking for for some time." He turns to the rest of you. "Show me this proof, it seems we may have a purpose in common."
If you want we can skip forward now. You can show Mayor Ormond the statue under the Inn. His bodyguard, Wraven, will take the prisoners along with Sir Grover to the prison where Lldryk will offer to look after them. The townspeople will go back to their homes, confused and worried at the implications of the morning.
The rest of you can then go to the Mayor's house and have a one on one chat with him if you want, to work our what the next step would be. Or you could go and do other things in town and meet the mayor in the evening. He'll want to talk to you at some point today though, as it seems you may have the skills to combat the darkness of Orlane.
Xanrym is in favor of going to the mayor's house next. He doesn't want to stumble into another "nest" of cultists again! He hopes that the mayor may be able to provide some information to guide their next steps.
If permissible, Avery would like to assist in taking Sir Grover to the detention, unless it will cause more friction, then he'll remain. He will give Grover a final shake of his head, and with a sign, state "I still call you oath breaker, now twice over with siding with the enemy. You will pay for your crimes, whether now or later when you will be judged. You are no longer fit to carry the Title Sir."
Ok so it seems the party is to be split for a little while, but Avery will be with Lldryk and Wraven, and the others will all be together at the mayor's house. As an aside, what are the rest of the NPC's going to do? Toska and Oliver will help Maajid wherever he needs to go. The mayor plans to close the Golden Grain for the moment, so they can stay there for a bit. He also offers for you all to stay there for a few days as well. Although he also mentions you could get comfortable, less cursed, beds at the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent in the north of town. Just note that if you want to stay at the other inn you'll need to go there this evening to book rooms.
I might also run Avery's discussion with Sir Grover in a private chat, just in case anything goes down there that you others shouldn'y know is happening.
You all take Mayor Ormond to the Naga statue, showing him the corpses and nasty stuff below the inn. He is suitably horrified and convinced of the evil. When you get back to his house he seems much more trusting and accommodating of you. "So, it seems you are all the heroes this town needs no? I have the means to help you to a large extent, but note that i don't control this town." He scratched his beard. "There are still many who will disbelieve the guilt of Misha, the people love the Temple of Merikka and will not condemn it. They see it as the only source of light in Orlane. They will also not necessarily believe in Sir Grover's guilt, they'll need more than a note to condemn him. Although there isn't quite as much love for him as there was for Misha, we'll be able to keep him locked up for at least a few days." He sighs. "There's also the possibility of other members of the cult still being in Orlane. You see, the rumour mill will start, and in a few days there'll be people who will swear that nothing is going on and that we should move on and pretend like nothing is wrong."
He goes on. "The way i see it, there's a couple things you could do. You could investigate the town more, and try to route out other members of the cult, or find other allies against it. Or you could go to the church and investigate there. Surely whatever this Naga is, there will be more information in that church. If you do go to the church you will need to be careful, people are defensive of that place, they won't like it coming under investigation."
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Xanrym had all of his gear during his watch, but he had just laid that aside so that he could be more comfortable during breakfast. When he hears the crowd gathering, it takes him a minute to slip his armor back on head downstairs. He tells Llydrk and Maajid to keep their captives quiet and to keep an eye on Oliver and Toska, too.
Xanrym comes down the stairs just in time to overhear Sir Grover's accusation and Avery's response and thinks, "That escalated quickly." He takes in the scene and the villagers outside the inn, wondering how many are members of the cult. A handful of cult members who don't want to reveal their affiliation openly is a very different situation from a mob that's more than half cultists.
Xanrym steps up to Avery and interjects to try to cool down the situation (Persuasion 12) while they can figure out who's who: "Sir Grover, good morning! I'm Xanrym. We met yesterday when Avery stopped by your office." He places a placating hand on Avery's broad shoulder and says, "Now, Avery, don't be too hasty! We don't know what Sir Grover knows or knew about his constables." But now he fixes his eyes on Zakarias and says, "My apologies! I was late coming down and missed the introductions. Would you perchance be Mayor Ormond? We'd be happy to give a full account and explain the unfortunate incident last night. Perhaps we could all take a seat here? There's already been some unpleasantness, and we don't want to upset the other villagers. Once they see that everything is calm here and there's no 'show', they'll go about their day. There's no need for your sword Sir Grover. Where are we going to go? You already block the door there," he says, pointing toward the front door of the inn, "and it's not like there's some secret door out of the inn!" He finishes with a laugh as though the idea of an inn with a secret door is ridiculous.
Xanrym continues to watch Zararias even when he's talking to Sir Grover, but he hopes that his friends were watching the whole group when he said that to see whether anyone betrayed a sign that they know about the secret meeting room under the inn.
Xanrym waits a moment to see how Ormond reacts. If Ormond seems receptive and/or moves to sit down at one of the tables, then Xanrym will step in front of Avery to pick up one of the upturned chairs. As he bends down to the chair, he glances back at his three friends and gives them a look of focused concern, like a gambler about to sit down with a table of cheats. If the mood is still tense or hostile, Xanrym remains standing next to Avery.
Theldrin is content to keep quiet in the background for the moment, as he watches the situation develop. When he hears Xanrym say "secret door" he scans the group to see if he notes any reaction.
Insight: 11
Well technically there is no secret door into or out of the inn. There's the front door and the door they load the barrels into the basement from. When Xanrym mentions it though, Sir Grover glances at the door leading to Bertram's room, the one with the trapdoor leading to the cult meeting place.
Sir Grover starts to take a step towards you with his sword but Mayor Ormond firmly tells him to stand down, and Grover looks at him to the giant man behind him and takes a step back. Ormond goes on, "Is there anyone upstairs that can corroborate anything that you've said? Also, have you taken any prisoners? Explain to me exactly who died last night, and hand over anyone who you may have captured. Then we can sit down and talk this out, not before. If they've committed a crime, they will be punished." He looks at Sir Grover. "As for your accusations against our sheriff, they are weighty indeed. Although it seems you have little to prove those claims, and it could be a misunderstanding. I will reserve any discussion about that until after you have handed over any prisoners or bystanders."
It seems like he is looking for a compromise; a sign that you aren't just barbaric killers and that there are other people left alive in this inn.
Xanrym says, "Of course! Liarin, could you fetch Maajid and Toska? We should probably start with them and how it all started."
While they wait, Xanrym begins his story. He tells the story with his expressive voice as though he's telling a tale to entertain a crowd. He explains how he woke up in the middle of the night to find that Avery was not in his bed in their shared room. How he and Theldrin found that an enchantment lay upon the hallway, preventing all sound. They were able to find Liarin and wake her up.
Xanrym then explains how he and his friends were paid by Maajid to escort him to Orlane after the man was attacked near an inn several miles up the road. He hopes that by this point Liarin has brought Maajid downstairs. Xanrym asks Maajid to tell the men what he saw when he woke up in the middle of the night.
Once Maajid tells them that he saw when he woke up, Xanrym jumps right back into his story. How the eerie silence worried them. So they went to check on their charge, Maajid, in his room -- only to arrive just in time! Cultists with scimitars intent on killing or capturing those sleeping at the inn!
Xanrym says that it wasn't just their group. He says that they found Toska tied to her bed. He asks the priestess to explain what she experienced in the middle of the night.
(OOC: yes, technically true. Xanrym just wanted a way to casually mention a "secret door" to see whether anyone would react. He figured a cultist might think of the secret door to the meeting room since going into the tunnel was kind of like leaving the inn.)
To be clear about Xanrym 's story, he's trying to get the mayor caught up in the story and delay the details about Misha and Bertram and the constables as long as possible. If the mayor is not a cult member, maybe he will be interested in this story and believe it could be related to the recent troubles in Orlane. Once he's "on their side" in a way, they can reveal that Misha led the attack on Maajid and that Bertram, Dogroot, and the constables are involved in the cult.
The two ways this could go wrong are if the mayor is a member of the cult or if the mayor is simply inclined to trust Orlaners over an outsider. In the former case, Xanrym is just stalling. In the latter case, If Xanrym can paint the party as heroes and get the mayor thinking that they have discovered the source of the recent troubles, he may not be so quick to believe whatever lies the captives tell. The party can always show him the secret hallways to the guest rooms, the secret meeting room, and the hidden tunnels. They just need to establish enough credibility first before the talk about who they killed. 😇
I'd say this will be a Persuasion check with Advantage because Maajid and Toska will both back up the story that you're telling. I'll roll here for you:
Persuasion: 16
So Mayor Ormond listens to your story with interest. He is certainly willing to believe that you were attacked in the night. When Sir Grover points out that Maajid is basically one of your party, Mayor Ormond rebuts with the fact that Toska is has no reason to lie, and many people attest to the fact that she arrived a couple days earlier, and had not been seen with you before last night. Sir Grover responds, "But perhaps they are all in it together, and sending the cleric in a couple days earlier lends credence to their lies." The Mayor hears this, but says it's pretty far fetched.
However, Mayor Ormond senses that you are holding something back. "Now you must tell us, who attacked you last night, and were there any hostages? It seems the constables were involved, but who else? I warn you, if you lie or try to keep the full truth from us on this matter, it will not help your cause."
Avery continues, his face firmly set. "When I arrived at the constable's office, one of his men stated, "A message from Sir Grover. 'You will serve her as well as you have done the Darkwatch." before he struck me with a mace. I had gone to see him in good faith and armed only with a dagger for my own protection, though little good against an ambush and with those armed with maces. I did stand my ground and did attempt to defend myself until both of them attacked, and I was knocked out. It was only after they brought me here to the inn, that I regained consciousness, and saw my friends being engaged. Using only my hands, I helped my friends against thugs, and others from this town bent on seeing them harmed. All about this "lady or her." I found it unique that the only weapons I could secure at the moment, were poisoned daggers, not a normal weapon for a peaceful person wouldn't you say?"
(Intimidation: 24)
Liarin looks at Xanrym, hoping he gets to speaking of the killing quickly before she blurts it out.
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
While Avery responds to / threatens Sir Grover, Xanrym tries to shift back behind the fighter and cast minor illusion without anyone noticing. (Stealth 17, in game log). He creates an illusion of the naga statue that they saw in the tunnels. (OOC: I'm not sure how we're all situated, but if the party is near the bar, and the mayor and Sir Grover are in the middle of the room, then he'd place the illusion in the west end of the room, in an open spot maybe 5 ft. behind the three men. If that's now how they're arranged, he'll place the illusion off at the north end of the room where they hopefully won't notice it right away.)
Xanrym tries to play a little "bad-cop, good-cop" with Avery. He steps forward again and jumps into the conversation as soon as Avery finishes speaking. Again, he addresses the mayor directly, "Yes, Mayor Ormond, thank you for your patience! I'm just getting to that. You must know that a darkness has descended on Orlane. Even we -- newcomers -- have already heard rumors of strange disappearances in you village. People vanishing for days and then coming back different, somehow changed. When we found Maajid last night, surrounded in his room by rough men with scimitars, I first thought that they were simple bandits, robbing a merchant in an inn along the road."
He continues, "But the truth is far worse. After last night, we have found the source of the trouble plaguing Orlane. A dark cult. A cult that worships...", and here, Xanrym gestures dramatically to his illusion behind them, "Explictica Defilus! I do not know who brought this cult to your town, but her name is certainly known to some in Orlane. And some of your townspeople may be under her arcane spells, unwittingly doing her bidding. The constables were among her followers. As Avery told you, they said, 'you will serve her.' Any that resist the cult are killed. We can show you clear evidence of this cult if you need to see it with your own eyes."
If he's allowed to continue, Xanrym now becomes contrite and adopts a less dramatic and more sorrowful tone. He says, "I'm sorry to say that the priestess of the Temple of Merikka here in Orlane, Misha?, revealed herself to be one of the cult's leaders last night. She was was directing the men who attacked Maajid. When we tried to chase them off, they came at us in force. We were outnumbered, but we managed to defend ourselves and put a stop to their murder and robbery. Five? -- no -- six men were killed in that fight. We would have liked to capture Misha, but unfortunately she was killed in the fight too. Her dying words to us were: 'You will die, and your corpses will serve as a meal for her and her children.' We have manage to capture a few men who were clearly serving the cult, but I don't expect that they will be truthful about what happened here last night."
(OOC: I'll leave it there for now. Xanrym would like to see how Mayor Ormond reacts to these revelations, but I'd be surprised if Xanrym even makes it all the way to the end of that monologue without being interrupted by Sir Grover. 🙂)
Updated: if needed, I went ahead and made another persuasion roll: 21, in game log.
Theldrin is tempted to interject with his views on the matter but thinks better of it, as Avery and Xanrym seem to be doing a good job, at least as best as can be expected considering the circumstances. He stays quiet and keeps an eye on the tall man with the axe, trying to gauge how he's reacting to the evolving situation.
Insight: 8
Theldrin - The tall man with the axe is watching the Mayor's back. It seems he's not overly interested in the intrigue, mainly focussed on his one job: Protect Zakarias Ormond.
Sir Grover is flummoxed by your account. He tries to get a word in, but the strength of Avery and the illusion of the Naga throw him off completely. He's looking around with wild eyes. Mayor Ormond seems interested in your story, and when Grover tries to butt in, Mayor Ormond stops him. "Grover, i understand you trusted Donovan and Hulbar. But you must admit, this story adds up. What reason would these people have to lie?"
Sir Grover flat out lies when Avery implicates him. "I gave this man no message. I had some dealings with these people earlier in the day and that was that." Mayor Ormond seems inclined to believe that the constables were acting alone
When you reveal Misha as one of the people who died, the crowd gasps, and Mayor Ormond puts his head in his hands. "This is grim news, Misha was loved by many of the village folk. They will not quickly believe she was the leader of some kind of cult." He seems to be thinking more that it will be hard for him to convince others, rather than not believing it himself. Sir Grover, however, jumps on the chance to make you look bad. "Did you hear that? They've killed that poor girl Misha! That lovely priest who came to our town and was our light, they've butchered her!" People start grumbling between themselves and are not happy with this news. The general attitude towards you is tempered at the moment, no one is calling for your blood, but you haven't been absolved completely.
When you show them the illusion of the Naga, and talk about a cult dedicated to 'her', the Mayor looks at you with hope. "If you show us proof of this cult, and hand over your prisoners, I think we can call this investigation over for the moment. Wouldn't you agree Sir Grover?" Grover reluctantly nods his head, seeing that you've successfully convinced the Mayor and the people of Orlane that you are not evil murderers.
Avery looks at the mayor, "Evidence, then here sir, here is evidence." He reaches into his cloak and pulls out the letter where Sir Grover had scribbled to come back that evening. Not wanting to appear threatening, he holds it out before the mayor.
"This is the note that I was brining to Sir Grover from a fellow comrade-in arms that had served with him. He returned it to me with the note to return that evening on the back."
Xanrym waits a moment to see whether Sir Grover responds to this evidence that contradicts his testimony.
After that, Xanrym was going to propose showing the mayor the secret meeting room downstairs and the barred door to the ghouls' tunnel. If given a chance, he'll propose, "Avery, would you like to stay here, where Sir Grover can keep an eye on you, while I show the mayor and his guard what we found in the cellar?" Xanrym's idea would be that two of them stay here with Sir Grover and two of them go back to the cellar. He's pretty sure that Sir Grover is in the cult. (He's not sure about the other two.) Xanrym doesn't want to leave anyone alone with Sir Grover, but he worries that there may be something in the cellar or the secret meeting room or in the tunnels that Sir Grover could use against them if they took him downstairs.
Theldrin frowns, not liking the idea of splitting up the party, but he offers to go with Xanrym.
I'm going to roll a Persuasion check for Avery with advantage for that note, to convince Mayor Ormond of Grover's guilt.
15
Mayor Ormond reads the note, then frowns at Sir Grover. "What is this Grover? How do you respond?" At the harshness in his voice, the man behind him puts a hand on his axe. Turning to Sir Grover.
Sir Grover starts to say something, but then looking to the Mayor, to the axe man, to the rest of you, he hangs his head. When his face comes up, he has a wicked smile on his face. "She will devour this village, and all of you with it. She is the All Darkness. Kill me if you must, it will help you none." His voice has changed now, to the tone of the people you've got prisoner upstairs.
Mayor Ormond's eyes widen. "Wraven, arrest Sir Grover, and take him to constable's quarters, along with the rest of the prisoners here. It seems these people have uncovered a secret we've been looking for for some time." He turns to the rest of you. "Show me this proof, it seems we may have a purpose in common."
If you want we can skip forward now. You can show Mayor Ormond the statue under the Inn. His bodyguard, Wraven, will take the prisoners along with Sir Grover to the prison where Lldryk will offer to look after them. The townspeople will go back to their homes, confused and worried at the implications of the morning.
The rest of you can then go to the Mayor's house and have a one on one chat with him if you want, to work our what the next step would be. Or you could go and do other things in town and meet the mayor in the evening. He'll want to talk to you at some point today though, as it seems you may have the skills to combat the darkness of Orlane.
(OOC: Nice! 👍)
Xanrym is in favor of going to the mayor's house next. He doesn't want to stumble into another "nest" of cultists again! He hopes that the mayor may be able to provide some information to guide their next steps.
If permissible, Avery would like to assist in taking Sir Grover to the detention, unless it will cause more friction, then he'll remain. He will give Grover a final shake of his head, and with a sign, state "I still call you oath breaker, now twice over with siding with the enemy. You will pay for your crimes, whether now or later when you will be judged. You are no longer fit to carry the Title Sir."
Ok so it seems the party is to be split for a little while, but Avery will be with Lldryk and Wraven, and the others will all be together at the mayor's house. As an aside, what are the rest of the NPC's going to do? Toska and Oliver will help Maajid wherever he needs to go. The mayor plans to close the Golden Grain for the moment, so they can stay there for a bit. He also offers for you all to stay there for a few days as well. Although he also mentions you could get comfortable, less cursed, beds at the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent in the north of town. Just note that if you want to stay at the other inn you'll need to go there this evening to book rooms.
I might also run Avery's discussion with Sir Grover in a private chat, just in case anything goes down there that you others shouldn'y know is happening.
You all take Mayor Ormond to the Naga statue, showing him the corpses and nasty stuff below the inn. He is suitably horrified and convinced of the evil. When you get back to his house he seems much more trusting and accommodating of you. "So, it seems you are all the heroes this town needs no? I have the means to help you to a large extent, but note that i don't control this town." He scratched his beard. "There are still many who will disbelieve the guilt of Misha, the people love the Temple of Merikka and will not condemn it. They see it as the only source of light in Orlane. They will also not necessarily believe in Sir Grover's guilt, they'll need more than a note to condemn him. Although there isn't quite as much love for him as there was for Misha, we'll be able to keep him locked up for at least a few days." He sighs. "There's also the possibility of other members of the cult still being in Orlane. You see, the rumour mill will start, and in a few days there'll be people who will swear that nothing is going on and that we should move on and pretend like nothing is wrong."
He goes on. "The way i see it, there's a couple things you could do. You could investigate the town more, and try to route out other members of the cult, or find other allies against it. Or you could go to the church and investigate there. Surely whatever this Naga is, there will be more information in that church. If you do go to the church you will need to be careful, people are defensive of that place, they won't like it coming under investigation."